Itsallaguess wrote:However, what if your mother had put the actual £15 in a drawer?

That would have been the *worst* situation for that sum of money in terms of outcomes, as at least you've had the chance to win something in the meantime with the Premium Bonds, even if that didn't actually happen in this particular case....

LOL. Very funny.

In terms of outcome, I could easily argue that the outcome is identical. £15 = £15.

But then I checked on eBay. If my mother had put 3 x mint condition old style £5 notes which were in circulation at the time in the drawer and I sold them on eBay now then I’d receive around £30. So money in the drawer would have been better than the Premium Bonds.

AleisterCrowley wrote:I reckon absolute minimum £5k- less than that and the return is very 'noisy' - you either do spectacularly well or get nowt.My £12.5k seem to return 1% to 2% typically - better than short bonds (ERNS etc) and the remote chance of winning big...

I would be thrilled with a 1% return on my £18k investment. I have won around £75 in 4 years. I am still holding on for the remote chance of winning big but if I needed cash Premium Bonds would be the first thing to go.

Mike88 wrote:I would be thrilled with a 1% return on my £18k investment. I have won around £75 in 4 years. I am still holding on for the remote chance of winning big but if I needed cash Premium Bonds would be the first thing to go.

Mke88 looks like you're having well below average luck there so I can see why you'd short list them as first out.I do get around 1% but it is lumpy, as my investment increases so my monthly variance decreases. I like NS&I for large cash deposits as they offer unlimited protection in a nightmare, Index linkers and PBs are handily shielded from tax as well.